This coming week I have an appointment booked with a figure competition coach in Westchester, and I’m very excited about it! She is supposed to be great, has an accomplished history of competing herself and 95% of her clients go on to become IFBB pros. I’m nervous but most of all very curious to find out more about this industry and hope she can give me some good pointers and get me even more motivated to continue towards reaching my goals! It’s my official “kick off” to my competition prep both mentally and physically, and a step towards getting serious about competing and entering this new world of bodybuilding. I’ve been studying my body for months now, every day, morning, noon and night, and must admit some days I get sick of being so “self absorbed”, although most of the time I find it fascinating to see how I’m changing. Most likely, it’s only me who notices changes now, because they are so miniscule.  But it’s a well known fact that body builders are the most obsessed, nit picky creatures when it comes to body changes and composition – for obvious reasons – and tend to be very anal about numbers.  This appeals to my personality, although I have days where I think what am I doing this for? What is the purpose?  I got my answer today as I was trying on clothes at a shopping mall with my friend – every piece of clothing I tried on, slipped on effortlessly.  I was happy with the way I looked in everything, and amazed at the changes I’ve made since last summer. At this time last year, I was in tears looking in to my closet, not being able to fit into a single piece of clothing I owned and almost wanted to just isolate myself from the world. Miserable was only the first letter of how I felt and I never want to go back to that place.   All the hard work I put in, both at the gym and with my diet (The latter especially!) is SO worth this feeling!

Speaking of diet – this past week or two I’ve allowed myself more calories, in order to “beef up” and feed my muscles. That does not mean pigging out on unhealthy foods, but eating more of healthy foods as well as being careful to feeding myself protein before and after my workouts. This has helped me keep on track, and I can feel that I’m ‘filling out’ but at the same time slimming down and getting rid of excess fat. Right now I’m focusing on increasing muscle mass – as I’m still pretty small – filling out so that I can eventually lean out towards the competition date in November. I just had a realization that in mid-July I will have to start getting anal again about my calories and diet, so I’m allowing myself to eat a healthy 2000-2500 calories per day going forward for the next couple of months.  I have been struggling with the thought of trying to stay super lean all year round, but have come to the conclusion that I want to vary things a bit – both for the sake of my body (not torturing my metabolism) and also living a life where I can allow myself that glass of wine or piece of chocolate here and there. What is weird is, when I stepped on the scale this week I was DOWN one pound and down one percentage in body fat! Guess who was thrilled?! I’ve never felt so tight, and so fit – so I know I’m doing something right. I’m just trying to document everything I’m doing, both diet and work out wise, so that I can keep track of what works best for my body.  I definitely think I was in a “slump” for a few weeks because my body got used to such low calorie levels, my metabolism most likely slowed down and stopped cooperating. I’m happy to say that I’m back on track and shedding that  fat again, let it continue please! I will never get complacent or think I can keep things up by being sloppy in my diet, but it’s nice to see that I can actually eat a very healthy amount and still keep a steady number on the scale. I am preparing to get up early in the morning, going hard at the gym at 6 am before hitting the pavement in Manhattan selling that vodka.. or whisky.. or cognac… Bi polar? Guess you can say that! Here’s a picture of me from yesterday, trying on my new bikini in 90 degree weather that we enjoyed this weekend in NY!